A-Trak surveys his remix roots with his new 'In the Loop' retrospective, featuring the producer's takes on songs by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Phoenix and more.

A-Trak surveys his musical roots with new retrospective LP In the Loop: A Decade of Remixes, out November 11th via his own Fool’s Gold label. The Canadian DJ-producer compiles some of his favorite remixes from the past decade, including songs by Yeah Yeah Yeahs (“Heads Will Roll”), Phoenix (“Trying to Be Cool”) and the Rapture (“How Deep Is Your Love?”).

In the Loop will be issued via all digital retailers as a CD and a limited-edition vinyl box set, which ships in December. The latter package – available for pre-order now – includes six seven-inch colored vinyl singles in custom sleeves, along with a 32-page booklet including behind-the-scenes stories on each remix.

“I learned how to produce by doing remixes,” A-Trak writes in the booklet introduction. “It was my testing ground. In 2006 I had been DJing for over 10 years and my brother Dave was a seasoned musician, but I was still a novice in the studio. Making a full original song can be daunting, so here I was able to hand-pick my favorite vocals, steal a few kickdrums and chop up some cool synths. My remixes also allowed me to get my music heard. I didn’t have to finish a full project. They gave me an à la carte formula, landing on various labels.

“A remix request is the equivalent of giving your peer a pound and saying ‘you’re dope, give me some of that sauce,'” he added. “They connect bands to DJs, producers among themselves, and all of them to new fans. For me this all started as electronic music blogs were spreading. We rarely went through managers. You would track down someone’s email and hit them up, cold. We helped each other finish tracks.”